Correx and wood shavings versus fleece liners?!

[Amy B]

Hello all, could anybody help me?!
We have two male guinea pigs that started off life in a two storey cage which came with them when we adopted them. They fought a lot and we soon learned that it was too small, so we expanded their space by adapting an upside down metal outdoor run (with chipboard, plastic liners, towels and fleeces for the base) with a little bridge into their existing cage that has wood shavings.
We thought fleece would be easier to clean, but are finding this is not actually the case, especially as one piggie loves to trash theud home and straw is regularly everywhere, which is hard to brush off fleece before washing.
We have just bought some correx, but had read some feedback in places, that some guinea pigs are partial to eating it. Our crazy guinea pig who trashes things is very partial to the plastic liner if he can ever pull back the layers in his cage enough to reach to it!
So firstly, do people find correx easier than fleece to look after? If so do you just simply put down the correx and place wood shavings on top? And secondly, do piggies have a tendancy to eat it, and if so is it a problem if they do?!
Thank you!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Whatever type of bedding you choose to use on top of the correx comes down to personal preference. As you don’t want to use fleece, then it is fine to use shavings (assuming your piggies are ok with shavings) but still putting something down on top of the correx (such as puppy pads or washable incontinence pads) before you put the shavings in can be a good idea as wet shavings will causing staining on the correx. Also, you will find that if you just shavings down directly on the correx, then it will slip and slide everywhere as your boys run about.

(As an aside, you say straw, I assume you actually mean hay - we sometimes get people using straw as bedding who aren’t aware that straw is too sharp for piggies)

Regarding eating the correx, some piggies will chew it (sometimes to destruction), and it isn’t good for them. When people use fleece they can tuck the fleece over the vertical correx sides to stop pigs from getting access to the correx. I am not sure how you would go about covering all the sides of the correx if you don’t want to use fleece though except putting their toys and hideys towards the edge of the cage

 

[piggieminder]

I use file binders over the edge of the corex to stop chewing, you can cut them to size with a hacksaw to finish a run of them. I use fleece liners on top of newspapers. I used to use puppy pads underneath but am trying to be more environmentally friendly and use less plastic. We have 3 cages so washable pads are too much extra washing. I found woodshavings too dusty indoors.

You can just see a binder over the corex in the second photo. I got my binders on ebay.

 

[Amy B]

Thank you for your reply, it's very helpful and much appreciated!

 

[Amy B]

Whatever type of bedding you choose to use on top of the correx comes down to personal preference. As you don’t want to use fleece, then it is fine to use shavings (assuming your piggies are ok with shavings) but still putting something down on top of the correx (such as puppy pads or washable incontinence pads) before you put the shavings in can be a good idea as wet shavings will causing staining on the correx. Also, you will find that if you just shavings down directly on the correx, then it will slip and slide everywhere as your boys run about.

(As an aside, you say straw, I assume you actually mean hay - we sometimes get people using straw as bedding who aren’t aware that straw is too sharp for piggies)

Regarding eating the correx, some piggies will chew it (sometimes to destruction), and it isn’t good for them. When people use fleece they can tuck the fleece over the vertical correx sides to stop pigs from getting access to the correx. I am not sure how you would go about covering all the sides of the correx if you don’t want to use fleece though except putting their toys and hideys towards the edge of the cage

 

[Amy B]

Thank you for your reply, it's very helpful and much appreciated, and yes it is hay not straw ( at home Ive always said straw and sawdust, rather than hay and wood shavings, but yes we definitely only give them hay

Whatever type of bedding you choose to use on top of the correx comes down to personal preference. As you don’t want to use fleece, then it is fine to use shavings (assuming your piggies are ok with shavings) but still putting something down on top of the correx (such as puppy pads or washable incontinence pads) before you put the shavings in can be a good idea as wet shavings will causing staining on the correx. Also, you will find that if you just shavings down directly on the correx, then it will slip and slide everywhere as your boys run about.

(As an aside, you say straw, I assume you actually mean hay - we sometimes get people using straw as bedding who aren’t aware that straw is too sharp for piggies)

Regarding eating the correx, some piggies will chew it (sometimes to destruction), and it isn’t good for them. When people use fleece they can tuck the fleece over the vertical correx sides to stop pigs from getting access to the correx. I am not sure how you would go about covering all the sides of the correx if you don’t want to use fleece though except putting their toys and hideys towards the edge of the cage

Thank you for your reply, it's very helpful much appreciated! Yes, it's definitely hay, at home I refer to it as straw and sawdust, but we definitely use hay and wood chippings!